Babysitting by Peter and Olivia
by agentofmerlin
Summary: Peter and Olivia trade in their unusual work at the FBI for something a little more normal: babysitting Ella (set around the beginning of season 2).
1. Chapter 1

"Are you _sure_ you don't want me to stay?"

"No, Rachel. I'm positive. Go enjoy yourself." Olivia pushed her anxious sister gently toward the door. Rachel turned to face her, obviously still dubious.

"Are you sure? It's your evening off; you should be out enjoying yourself, not babysitting Ella."

"Believe me, I'll have more fun here than I would out there," Olivia laughed. Rachel hugged her impulsively.

"You're the best, Liv." After a few moments – and more instructions and fretting – Rachel finally left for her evening out. Olivia locked the door behind her and turned to face her five year old niece.

"So," she began, "we've got the _whole_ evening to ourselves. What should we do?" Ella jumped into her aunt's arms.

"Pancakes!" she cried.

"Pancakes? But you just had them for breakfast!"

"I don't care. You make them the best." Olivia grinned, hugging Ella.

"Alright. I'll make pancakes you go play, and I'll call you when they're done." Ella skipped off, humming, and Olivia made her way to the kitchen. Her phone was buzzing on the counter, and her heart sunk when she saw that it was Peter calling. That could only mean one thing. . .

"I'm at the end of my rope," Olivia heard Peter say over the line. She could hear music in the background. Very loud music, to be specific.

"Is everything okay?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine, but Walter has been cooking for five hours straight. He's also not wearing any pants, and he's got the Beatles 20 Greatest Hits blasting through the house for the tenth time today." Olivia had to resist the urge to laugh at Walter's antics.

"Sounds like a busy afternoon," she managed, smirking.

"You have no idea," Peter said exasperatedly. "I need to get out of here. Wanna go somewhere?"

"I can't. I'm babysitting Ella tonight." She paused, an idea forming in her mind. "If you really need to get out, though, you're welcome to come over here."

"No no. I don't want to intrude –"

"Peter, you're not intruding. Besides, Ella would love it." Olivia could hear the smile in Peter's voice as he accepted her offer. She hung up and went to tell Ella about their guest. Ella squealed with happiness and ran to the door to wait for his knock. Olivia did her best to straighten up the living room.

It would be nice to spend an evening with Peter outside of work, Olivia thought. They got far too little time to just be friends these days. Olivia copied her niece and began to hum as she worked.

She had been right – she was going to have much more fun at home with Peter and Ella than she ever would have going out.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter knocked firmly on the door of apartment 2A. It opened at almost the same moment, and something small hit Peter squarely in the knees. "Hey –" Peter laughed, "hey, Ella." he bent down to complete her hug.

"Peter, Aunt Olivia's making pancakes!" Ella informed him in a chipper tone.

"She is?" Olivia appeared in the entryway. "I hear you're making pancakes." Peter stood up, Ella in tow.

"Well, I'm attempting to," Olivia conceded.

"Sounds like dangerous business."

"Oh the worst. But Ella here thinks I'm the best." Olivia bopped her niece on the nose, and the squirming figure in Peter's arms emitted a giggle.

"I want you to help her make them," Ella told Peter. Peter raised his eyebrows.

"Then it really would be a dangerous business," he argued, chuckling. Ella began to plead with him, however, and Peter relented. Thrilled, Ella took off to continue her play efforts, and Peter shed his coat and scarf and hung them on the coat rack. He followed Olivia into the kitchen.

"Ready to get cooking?" she asked, extending a spatula towards him.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied. Twirling his spatula, he watched as Olivia scanned the back of the pancake mix box, her reading glasses perched precariously on her nose and a few strands of hair curved about her face.

"So," Olivia began, "2 cups of the mix, a cup of milk, and two eggs. Easy."

"Yeah. Piece of cake," he agreed slightly sarcastically. She gave him a look.

"I'll get the batter together if you cook the pancakes."

"Whatever you say, boss."

Ella wandered into the kitchen just as Peter was about to begin cooking the pancakes. "Hey, kid. You wanna help me?" Peter asked her. Ella nodded enthusiastically, and he lifted her up so she could reach the stove. "Just pour a little bit of the batter into the pan," he instructed, his arms around her middle. Ella bit her tongue and, before Peter could stop her, created an enormous, circular-shaped pancake that took up the entire pan. She giggled at it.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Peter acknowledged, grinning. Olivia peered over his shoulder and laughed.

"Did I do it wrong?" Ella asked, a shadow of worry crossing her pretty face.

"No, darling," Olivia assured her. "You did just fine. Can you let Peter finish cooking it, though, and go set the table for us, please?"

"Sure, Aunt Liv!" Ella skipped off to fulfill her task. Olivia and Peter exchanged a bemused glance.

"Just make them all like that," Olivia whispered. "We don't want to disappoint her."

"Miss Dunham, that is slightly dishonest," Peter informed her. Olivia gave him another look.

"Just do it, Peter."

"Yes ma'am."

Peter, Olivia, and Ella soon sat down to a meal of twelve inch pancakes floating in sweet syrup. Ella ate hers with relish, chattering on about how her new favorite thing to do was make pancakes. Peter and Olivia listened on, looking up now and again to smile at one another.

Part one of babysitting had been a decided success.


End file.
